Hey so I was replacing my front fenders and when I tried to start it up, one of the 3 fusible links blew on my positive battery connection and smoke was coming from around the battery, so I replaced it and now my engine will turn over but it cant start, and there’s no power going to my fuel pump and I have no spark. I have power going to everything else (Lights, fan, stereo, locks… etc, all still work)… Any ideas on whats happening?
Vehicle:
1992 Pathfinder SE
3.0L V6 4WD
Yup. The short-to-ground that caused the fusible link to blow is still there. You need to find that. To do so, you’ll need schematics, a meter, and a buddy with electrical expertise. Or, you could tow it to a shop that specializes in automotive electrical systems and let them find it.
Um… why were you replacing the fender? I find myself wondering if the short might be in one of the circuits that feed something related to the fender change, like a lighting module, or something that might have been damaged in an accident perhaps? Or perhaps you made an error in connecting the circuitry back up and left the short?
It might be you’ve fixed the short circuit now, but you could have some more blown fuses, that’s another theory to consider at least. Do you know where the fuseboxes are, and how to test for blown fuses? On my Corolla there’s fuseboxes in the engine compartment and one big one with a lot of fuses in the passenger compartment.
Without car in hand and schematic I can’t tell you where the problem is. That’s where a wiring diagram and the ability to pore through it comes in handy.
Odds are some fuses are blown also. One thing you can’t do is keep replacing fuses or the harness will go up in smoke.
I was replacing them cause my ex drove it into a tree a tree and put a large dent in it haha, but that was a year ago and there was no internal damage (Drove perfectly fine for the past year). The only wiring that I had to move was the wire for the parking light, and it had no way of grounding (Wire was solid and the plug was intact). The only other wiring I touched was the battery cables, and that was only to take out the battery
Yea I checked all other fuses and they’re all intact
This is the type of problem that occurs when a battery is connected backwards. Be sure that you have checked the fuses in each fuse box and power to the engine computer before replacing the engine computer.
There’s 3 fusible links, right? You got all those replaced. hmm … maybe focus on why the fuel pump and engine computer don’t seem to be running. The power flow for those circuits seems to come from the battery, through a fusible link, then through the ignition switch, then (via a b/w wire) to a fuse box, through a 10 amp fuse (fuel pump) and 15 amp fuse (ecm), Both wires are colored b/w leaving the fuse box, although the circuits are separately fused. Tracing that path out is as good a place to start as any.